Good morning from sunny California and welcome to The Yappie's Asian American + Pacific Islander politics briefing! I’m back and well-rested (jk), so make sure to send tips to [email protected]. Apply to join our team and support The Yappie's work.
BUT FIRST, SOME PERSONAL NEWS: I recently joined OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates as their communications associate. To prevent conflicts of interest, I’ve recused myself from certain coverage areas and am passing the torch to our growing editorial team led by Shawna Chen. I’m grateful that you’ve allowed me to be a part of your inbox for the past two years, and you can continue to reach me on Twitter (@TheAPJournalist) or at [email protected].
The Big Story
?️ HAPPENING TODAY: President Joe Biden will host Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander civil rights leaders at the White House at 11:30 a.m. ET to discuss policy priorities. We’ll have more coverage from The Yappie’s Javan Santos later today. Here’s what you need to know…
- The details: Representatives from a slew of advocacy groups—including Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC, the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), Stop AAPI Hate, and the Indian American Impact Fund—are expected to attend today’s meeting, which marks nine years after the deadly 2012 mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
- Sikh Americans, who are still reeling from a massacre at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis in April, have been particularly vulnerable to discrimination, having suffered xenophobic violence in the U.S. for over a century.
- Biden will be joined by Vice President Kamala Harris and other officials involved in the administration’s AAPI outreach efforts, such as the White House Office of Public Engagement's Howard Ou, White House AANHPI Liaison Erika Moritsugu, White House Initiative on AANHPIs Executive Director Krystal Ka’ai, and senior adviser Neera Tanden.
- White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki offered a brief preview of the meeting on Wednesday, noting that the group will discuss the administration’s response to anti-Asian hate, immigration reform, the economy, voting rights, and the pandemic.
- How we got here: Thursday’s sitdown—which comes as the Biden administration pitches major initiatives on hate crimes, health care, and infrastructure to AAPI voters—is the third meeting of its kind since the president took office.
- Biden and Harris huddled with Georgia AAPI lawmakers following the Atlanta shootings in March and hosted members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus in the Oval Office in April.
- Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray were also questioned by senators about the Department of Justice’s efforts to combat anti-Asian hate in June.
The Biden Era
BREAKING—BIDEN GIVES SOME HK RESIDENTS A TEMPORARY SAFE HAVEN: Biden has signed a memorandum “directing the deferral of removal of certain Hong Kong residents who are present in the United States,” Psaki announced Thursday.
UPDATE—LACKING UNIFORMITY: Hate crime laws in the U.S. are inconsistent and limited in addressing bias-motivated violence, according to a report released by civil rights advocates in the wake of rising anti-Asian violence. CNBC’s Annika Kim Constantino has the details.
- Heads up: Stop AAPI Hate is set to release its next report on hate incidents in two weeks, NBC Bay Area’s Lili Tan notes.
ON OUR RADAR—The number of openly LGBTQ+ AAPI elected officials in the U.S. rose from 17 to 26 in the past year, representing a 56% increase, the LGBTQ Victory Institute tells The Yappie. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders now make up 2.6% of all LGBTQ+ elected officials and saw slight gains in state legislatures, according to the group’s analysis.
MAKING MOVES—ASPIRE PAC, the political arm of AAPI members of Congress, has hired Nic Jordan as its first-ever executive director; Dr. Janelle Wong is now co-director of AAPI Data; former New Jersey attorney general Gurbir Grewal, one of the nation’s most prominent Sikh American public officials, has joined the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; and former Obama administration appointee Francey Youngberg was sworn in as assistant director of the Office of Partnership and Engagement at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday.
TRACKING BIDEN’S NOMINEES—Biden intends to nominate Kathy Im to serve as a Corporation for Public Broadcasting board member, the White House says. He will also tap Rashad Hussein and 2020 campaign surrogate Khizr Khan for “key religious affairs roles.”
THE LONG READ—Congress and the Biden administration should provide “targeted federal funding” to long-standing AAPI civil groups while focusing on protecting AAPI women, small businesses, and older adults, Jeff Le writes in POLITICO.
On The Hill
CAPITOL RIOT TRAGEDY: Gunther Hashida, a D.C. police officer who defended federal lawmakers from a violent pro-Trump mob at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, has died by suicide, the Metropolitan Police Department confirmed this week.
- Editor's note: Help is available 24/7 through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline via the toll-free hotline at 1-800-273-8255. You can also text TALK to 741741.
⚖️ UPDATE—LAWMAKERS ASK FOR DOJ PROBE ON HU TRIAL CLAIMS: Nearly 100 members of Congress, led by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-California), are urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to probe the Justice Department’s alleged racial profiling of Asians under the Trump-era “China Initiative.” Their request comes as federal prosecutors seek a new trial against Chinese Canadian scientist Anming Hu, despite concerns of potential misconduct. Last month, jurors in Tennessee deadlocked over accusations that Hu unlawfully hid ties to China.
TAAF SLAMS GOP’S COVID REPORT: The Asian American Foundation expressed concerns about a report on the coronavirus’ origins after it was released by the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Republican staff, warning that it could “be weaponized to fan the flames of anti-AAPI hate and violence.” The document suggests “a preponderance of evidence proves the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic leaked from a Chinese research facility,” Reuters reports.
? ICYMI—CAPAC TAPS RACHANDRAN AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Longtime community advocate and consultant Nisha Rachandran, who previously worked as policy director for the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, joined the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus as its first South Asian American executive director last month. Read more from The Yappie’s Joshua Yang, Shawna Chen, and Andrew Peng.
AAPI Nation
Here’s what else is happening across America…
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has begun recruiting for a “Chinese Constituency Organizing Director” to work in California’s Orange County, roughly a month after the Republican National Committee opened its first AAPI community center in the area.
- Protests are roiling California’s Siskiyou County after police officers fatally shot 35-year-old Hmong farmer Soobleej Hawj, spurring calls for a federal investigation.
- Anti-vaccine activists hurled racial slurs and launched xenophobic tirades at Asian American public officials in Missouri and California. A Gallup poll recently found that Americans’ satisfaction with the way society treats Asian people tumbled to an all-time low.
- Recent action by Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) has renewed debate over the diversity of the state’s judiciary, where a majority of judges are Japanese, white, or Native? Hawaiian, the Honolulu Civil Beat’s Blaze Lovell writes.
- Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su will address AAPI workers at the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance’s 16th Biennial Convention on Sunday.
- Demands for AAPI curriculum are growing in New Jersey and Ohio after Illinois became the first state to require all public schools to teach a unit on Asian American history.
- Six Asian American candidates likely won in New York City’s recent council primaries, bringing the legislative body closer to proportionate demographic representation, according to City & State NY.
- A survey of 1,617 women of color conducted by The Harris Poll found that the number of AAPI first-time voters jumped at least seven points since 2018.
- Some Native Hawaiians are pleading with tourists to stop coming to the islands amid rising coronavirus cases and a water shortage.
- $156.5 million of the California state budget will go towards initiatives combating anti-Asian hate, The Yappie’s Samson Zhang reports.
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, the nation's first legal and civil rights group serving low-income AAPI communities, has finalized its first union contract.
- Finally… Suni Lee’s gold medal performance led to a spike in Google searches about Hmong people, while reaction to Tonga's shirtless Olympic flag bearer Pita Taufatofua has fueled calls to stop the fetishization of Pacific Islander bodies, The Yappie’s Shawna Chen notes.
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